Makely

Over the past week and a half, seven different bloggers teamed up with Olioboard to create moodboards in the coastal cottage style.  Now, we all know that I’m not your typical coastal cottage girl, but I really enjoyed adding some pretty elements to a moodboard at Olioboard’s free online moodboard generator.  I shared with you my coastal cottage inspired home office last week.

It’s been a lot of fun to see how the other bloggers approached this challenge.  If you haven’t already, take a look at how different everyone’s rooms designed in the same style turned out.  It’s actually pretty neat! On Monday, we saw a fun coastal cottage studio/library put together by Lynda at Focal Point.  I really love that she mixed some industrial elements in with more traditional cottage furniture, like a white slipcovered sofa.

On Wednesday, we saw the lovely living room put together by Rhoda at Southern Hospitality.  I really like how she pulled the brighter reds and blues from the Shaw/HGTV Home rug (LOVE that rug!) and brought some nice colors to a design style that’s typically done in white and grays.

Next, we saw a very serene coastal cottage bedroom from Kristi at Addicted to Decorating.  I particularly loved the natural elements she included to bring some texture to a room that could have been overrun with fabrics.

On Friday, Shannon from What’s Up Whimsy brought us a coastal cottage inspired dining room.  Those green chairs rock my world and you know I would die for the black and white striped wall.

Rachel from Fresh Home Blog gave us a fresh take on a porch.  The thought of her white porch with bright pops of color really makes me happy.  I could definitely see myself sitting on that green porch swing and sipping a lemonade.

Yesterday, Sheilah from the Olioboard blog put together a gorgeous kitchen.  This kitchen really feels so open and clean to me.  The blues and yellows would be very calming when I’m burning something in the oven, don’t you think?

Which of these rooms would you most like in your home?  What elements are your favorites and what did we totally forget to include?

My fun and funky lighting obsession has continued.

Back in April, I fell in love with a table lamp at Forma Living.  Called the Edison lamp, it’s the perfect mix of understated and big statement all at the same time.  I love it when statement pieces aren’t over the top.

This exact same lamp is available at Anthropologie, but it’s $30 cheaper at Forma Living (where I got mine).  Even better is that my husband is obsessed with it.  I’ve never seen a man go ga-ga over a lamp like he did over this one.  We’re going to put it in our living room, but it’s currently hiding up high on a closet shelf.  Emma is in her “I-need-to-clear-every-table-with-a-single-sweep-of-my-arm” phase, and I just can’t risk her breaking it.  It’s so very cool.

There’s also a steal of a deal on lighting at Anthro that I wanted to point out.  Several of you lovely readers sent me the link to a smaller version of my most favorite light fixture ever, on a deep, deep discount at Anthropologie.  The square pendant and circle pendant styles are made by the same designer as my one true love, and are available for $35 a piece (marked down from $128 and $148, respectively!).

Just remember the scale on these smaller bad boys.  They are just about 11 inches (circle)/9 inches (square) wide and 12 inches tall, so they aren’t going to work over your dining table or in the center of a room.  They would, however, look great over your kitchen sink or in the corner of a room over a fun chair.

Found any cool lighting fixtures recently?  Show us in the comments!